Soy and dairy blends

摘要

In a recent issue of this journal (1), one article points to the explosion of soy milk sales in the USA, up from EUD77.8 million in 1997 to EUD339 million in 2001/02, suggesting that the European dairy industry should 'get in on the act' rather than ignoring this competitor. One way, which is the subject of this review, is to produce soy and dairy blend products which, according to some, have superior nutritional and functional properties than either dairy or soy products on their own. Even before dealing with soy-dairy blend products, the feeding of soya bean products to dairy cows can positively influence the composition of the resulting milk. From controlled cattle feeding studies, in which fish oil and extruded soya beans were fed to dairy cows, scientists at South Dakota State University in the USA (2) concluded that using these feeds in combination increased the content of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in milk to a greater extent than when they were fed separately.